


Episode 1 A New Day

by IWannaBeYahtzee



Series: DEH Walking Dead AU (Telltale) [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz, Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson, Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe, The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arguing, Bleak, Blood and Gore, Bonding, Character Study, Compromise, Depressing, Everyone Needs A Hug, Exactly What It Says on the Tin, Gore, How Do I Tag, Manslaughter, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Morally Ambiguous Character, Murder, Problems, Relationship Problems, Sad Ending, Walkers (Walking Dead)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-04-05 10:24:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14042193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IWannaBeYahtzee/pseuds/IWannaBeYahtzee
Summary: Connor Murphy is on his way to prison when all Hell breaks loose. The dead are walking and he and an anxiety ridden boy named Evan have to protect each other and weather their way through the wasteland.





	1. Part 1 Meeting Evan

**Author's Note:**

> So this is gonna be a big one. I ultimately decided to just do one route as including choices would just be too much work!

Connor sat in the back of the cop car, the cuffs chafing his wrists. He reluctantly turned his gaze to the rear view mirror where he met the gaze of the officer. He was a thin, gangly, balding old man with remarkably kind eyes for his profession.

"So...I reckon you didn't do it."

"What do you mean?" Connor asked.

"I've driven a lot of guys down to this prison. Usually around this time is when I get the "I didn't do it!"" The officer clarified. Connor never did catch his name.

"Every time?"

" _Every_ time."

"Y'know I followed your case a little bit. You being from Washington." The officer noted.

"So you're from around here?" The teen asked.

"Worked here for about twenty years. Always wanted a big case like this mess you've gotten yourself into. Shame really."

Yeah. Everybody was always in such a hurry to tell Connor what a disappointment he was.

"You know I've got a son at Dunbar High. You go there?

"Senior actually."

Connor's attention was drawn by another cop car rushing by. He unintentionally began to tune in to the harsh murmur of voices over the police radio. Something about a riot?

"Any of that seem important to you?" Connor asked.

"All of it actually. But that box never shuts up. You sit here listening to it for long it enough you'll go plumb crazy." The officer remarked.

More police cars went by, this time with an ambulance. What the hell was going on?

"I'm driving this man once, he was the worst." The officer spoke up again. "He wouldn't stop going on about how he didn't do it. He was an older fella, big soft eyes behind a pair of smart folk glasses. And he's just wailing back there! Says it wasn't him! Crying and snotting all over right where you're sitting."

Connor wrinkles his nose. _"Ugh. Nice."_ He thinks.

The radio starts crackling out a message again, louder than ever, and annoyed, the officer shuts it off. "Then he starts kicking the back of the seat! Like a fussy baby on an airplane! I tell him he's gotta stop. That's government property and I'll be forced to zap him otherwise. So he stops and having exhausted all his options he starts crying out for his mama." The cop turned to give him an incredulous look as he said this. "Mama! It's all a big mistake! It wasn't me!"

The teen wondered why he was being told all this but he had to admit he was intrigued.

"So did he do it?" Connor asked.

"They caught the fucker red handed!" The officer shouted. "Stabbing his wife, cutting her up as the boys came through the door! He sits in MY car screaming bloody murder that it wasn't him! Think he belived it himself. Guess it just goes to show that people will up and go mad when they think their life is over."

"..I guess." Connor replied, not sure what else to say. He turned his gaze out through the windshield and his blood ran cold. Up the road he saw what looked like a figure walking steadily into the path of the car just as the cop turned to face him again.

"Oh I got another good one for ya! This ones a little bit less depressing and a little bit more hilarious-"

"WATCH OUT!" Connor screamed. They struck them head on. Connor's world became a spiral of broken glass and crushing metal.

  
Connor slowly regained consciousness laying in the twisted wreckage of what remained of the cop car. His throat was terribly dry and as he tried to move he felt a searing pain in his leg. "Aaahhh! FUCK!" He screamed. Though his entire aching body fought against it he twisted around in the wreck to look at his surroundings. Through the mangled mess that used to be the rear window he could just see what appeared to be the officer who was driving him, sprawled out on the ground, face down and a few feet away, his shotgun.

 _"What the hell?"_ He thought _"Why would he need that?"_

"Officer! Hey! Officer! Can you hear me?! I'm still cuffed back here! I can't get out!" Connor cried. There was no response. The officer didn't even move. It looked like he was going to have to find his own way out. Connor forced his body to move despite the pain radiating throughout it and dragged himself over to the passenger side window. Connor began kicking at the glass until finally it gave. He dragged himself out and fell onto the hard ground. He cried out and sucked in harsh breath through clenched teeth. He gripped the edge of the car and pulled himself up on his injured leg, gritting his teeth and forcing himself to walk. Eventually he lost the support of the car and was forced to limp his way to the officer.

It was only now Connor noticed the blood. It was curved along the ground leading up to the cops body. _"Maybe he had been thrown from the car?"_ Connor thought. "Officer?" Connor tentatively called once more. When he got no response he reached for the keys on cops belt. He unlocked the handcuffs and rubbed at his sore wrists. Suddenly he heard a low moaning below him. "Officer?"

The old man suddenly lunged for him, knocking Connor on his back. His skin was yellowed, almost jaundiced looking, there was a feral look in his eye and he continued to growl animalisticaly as he began to crawl towards Connor. "Oh shit! What the hell are you?!" Connor yelled, backing away until he hit the cop car. He reached for the cops gun but it was empty. His eyes darted about until they fell on a spare round a few feet away. He grabbed it, fumbled for a few precious seconds until he finally got the gun loaded. "Don't make me do this!" He cried. But the strange creature that used to be the kind policeman continued to crawl towards him, almost upon him. Connor pulled the trigger and blew the cops head off.

He slowly shook his head in disbelief and threw the gun away. Connor stared in horror down at the body. It wasn't the first one he'd seen but this was different. Much different. For one, half of his head was missing. _"His skin is all rotten and he smells like shit. What the hell is going on here?!"_ He thought. Connor's eyes scanned frantically, clueless as to what he was even supposed to do in these circumstances until he caught sight of a figure up on a nearby hill, looking down at him.

"H-help! Go get someone! There's been a shooting!" Connor called out to them.

The figure turned tail and ran. Hopefully to go get help. Connor lay back against the car trying to catch his breath, when he heard a groaning from behind him. He whipped around to see a man lurching towards him. Parts of his flesh were rotted away and bloodied, bits of his skull showed through the skin, it's eyes were yellowed with cataracts. Connor hurriedly dragged himself forward and got to his feet. He limped away as fast as he could and suddenly they were everywhere. Connor pulled himself up onto the hill and was met with a tall wooden fence. He rushed towards it and heaved himself over. He fell hard onto the ground and crawled backwards until his back hit against something hard. He could hear them moaning and clawing at the fence and it almost seemed like they would bring the whole thing down. But suddenly there were what sounded like gun shots in the distance and slowly the moaning of the undead faded away.

Connor caught his breath, slowly stood and took in his surroundings. He was in a relatively spare backyard with only a porch that he had been previously sitting against and a large tree with a tree house.

"Hello!? Anybody?!" Connor called. He limped his way underneath the tree house. "Anybody up there?! Hello! Please! I need help!"

Nothing.

There was no ladder. Only a few wooden steps and there was no way Connor was climbing it with his leg busted. With nothing else in the yard Connor was drawn to the porch. He knocked on the glass door. "Hello! Anybody home? I need a little help." He called. When he got no answer he tried the door and found it unlocked. "I'm coming in! Don't shoot!" He stumbled inside. "I'm not an intruder! ...Or one of them..." Connor took a good look around. From where he stood he could see a sparse living room, a small kitchen and a dining table. Furniture was toppled over, kitchen drawers were pulled out and there was a large puddle of what looked liked partially dried blood on the kitchen floor. Bloody handprints dotted the kitchen.

"...Jesus." Connor breathed. "These people might be the ones who need help."

Connors eye was drawn to the kitchen counter where an environmental science book lay abandoned. He limped into the kitchen, carefully stepping around the blood. The first thing that caught his eye was a cup by the sink. He lunged for it and found it full of water. He downed it in one gulp. Then he started pulling out a few drawers, looking for a rag or something to wrap around his leg. Instead he found a walkie talkie sitting in one of the few unopened ones. He picked it up, tried it out and found that it worked but heard nothing on the other end. He tucked it into his hoodie pocket. Suddenly there was a beeping coming from the direction of the living room. Connor followed it to a small table that seemed mostly undisturbed except for a knocked over photo. There was a phone and an answering machine on it. Connor pressed the button.

**_"You have three new messages. Message one. Left at five fourty three PM."_ **

A woman's voice came over the speaker, cheery and motherly.

"Hey Evan! Jared! I'm still in Savannah! The conference went well but David had a run in with some crazy guy at the hotel so we had to bring him back to the E.R. to get it checked out. He probably won't be feeling well enough to fly back tonight so we're staying an extra day. Jared thanks so much for staying over with Evan! He and I both really appreciate! Don't party too hard now you two!"

_**"Message two. Left at eleven nineteen PM."** _

"Oh thank God! Finally! I don't know if you two tried to reach me, all the calls are getting dropped! They're not letting anyone leave and won't tell us anything about Washington. Please boys just get out of the city as soon as you can! I have to get back to the hospital! Please please just let me know you're safe!"

_**"Message three. Left at six fifty one AM."** _

"Evan, Baby? If you can hear this, call the police! I love you! 'Sob!' I love you! I love-"

"...Shit." Connor said breathily. He slowly lifted up the picture on table. It showed a nervous looking but smiling young man with blonde hair and green eyes posing with an older blonde woman with wrinkles on her cheeks and kind blue eyes. The woman had her arms wrapped around him protectively.

  
"Mom?"

Connor heard the tentative, static muffled whisper ring out in the quiet of the house. "Huh?" He reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out the walkie.

"Hello?" He spoke into it.

"You need to be quiet." The voice over the walkie crackled out.

"Who is this?" Connor asked.

"I'm Evan. W-What are you doing in m-my house?" The voice named Evan responded timidly.

"Hi Evan. I'm Connor. And I was just looking for a little help."

"You're not my mom."

"No. I'm not. How old are you?" Connor asked beginning to search around the house looking for the source of the voice.

"17." Evan replied.

"Are you all alone?" Connor said, shocked. As he looked around he discovered a staircase blocked by a bookcase.

"Yeah. I don't know where anybody is. How old are you?" Evan whimpered.

"I'm uh 19." Connor answered.

"Oh. Ok." Evan mumbled.

Connor began to move back towards the kitchen as he asked "Where are your parents?"

"My mom is on a business trip in Savannah. I haven't seen my dad in years. I was staying here with Jared until she gets back."

Connor approached the window. "Where are you?"

"I'm outside. In my tree house. They can't get me up here." Evan muttered.

"Heh. Smart." Connor chuckled.

The door of the wooden house creaked open and the blonde boy from the picture poked his head out, holding the other walkie talkie. "Here, can you see me? I can see you through the window." He waved at Connor and Connor waved back.

Evan's eyes widened suddenly and he cried "Behind you!"

Connor whirled around and came face to face with what looked like might have at one time been a young man about his age. His skin was a sickly green and rotting away in chunks, his hair falling out, clothes torn to shreds, his eyes glazed and white with the remains of a pair of broken glasses hanging on what was left of his nose. It lunged at him and tried to grab him but he caught it by the wrists and threw it off of him. He turned and tried to run but he slipped in the blood and knocked his head against the kitchen counter. Connor blinked rapidly trying to get his vision back in focus. He could see the blurry outline of the dead boy crawling towards him. Connor kicked it in the face, shattering it's glasses even further. Connor tried to get to his feet but the boy grabbed him around the ankle and tripped him up. Connor crawled backwards, the undead boy got on top of him and as he tried to shove the thing off of him, Evan pushed the screen door open. He held out a hammer in his shaking hands. "H-h-here!" He cried. Connor grabbed it and smacked the undead boy in the face with it. Gaining the upper hand he quickly got on top of it and bashed it's brains in.

He panted heavily as he stood, covered in blood, and rested his hands on his knees. "...Fuck." He breathed out. "Hi there." He winced as he straightened.

"D-did you kill it?" Evan asked quietly, looking down at the broken, mangled mess that used to be a person.

"I don't know. I think so." Connor muttered.

"S-sometimes they c-come back!" Evan whimpered.

"Have you had to kill one?"

"No. B-but they get shot a lot."

Connor looked at the young boy before him. He looked very scared and extremely stressed. "Have you been all by yourself through this?" He asked.

"Yeah." Evan mumbled. "I want my mom to come home now."

Connor thought back to that voicemail. "I...think that may be a while."

"Oh."

"Look," Connor said softly, putting a hand on the blondes shoulder. "I don't know what's going on, but we should stick together. At least until your mom gets back."

"Yeah. T-that seems like it would be best." Evan stuttered out. "W-what should we do now?" He asked.

"We should find help. Before it gets dark." Connor advised.

"Yeah. It's n-not safe here at n-night." Evan agreed. "But before we leave I-I have to get s-something." Connor and Evan walked out onto the porch. Evan looked back sadly at the desecrated corpse before he quickly slammed the glass door shut and looked away. He looked up at Connor who could only offer him a sympathetic frown.

"G-give me a sec." Evan said, walking towards the tree house. Connor realized why there was only three steps up to it because he scrambled up the tree like a monkey and was back down just as fast with a orange bottle in his hands.

"What're those?" Connor asked.

"M-my pills." Evan stated. "T-they help with my anxiety. I t-thought I should take them with us."

Connor felt a pang in his chest as he realized the kind of stress this kid had to have gone through. A seventeen year old with an anxiety disorder all on his own in a tree house while the dead were coming back to life all around him.

Poor bastard.

"Yeah. Course. We should keep them close." Connor agreed. Evan nodded and put them in his pocket. The two started to head for the front gate.

 


	2. Part 2 Hershels Farm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The two find temporary refuge at a farm and meet up with some more survivors.

As they approached the gate the two could see a tall brown haired boy in a red letterman jacket with a black girl with her hair tied up in a pony tail trying to push an abandoned car out of the way.  
  
"Come on!" The boy groaned.  
  
"We're never gonna get outta here at this rate." The girl sighed. " Aw. It's hot dish night."  
  
"Keep tryin!" The boy insisted. "We gotta get outta the city."  
  
Connor turned his head to see Evan hanging back.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked.  
  
"Should I stay?" Evan questioned uncertainly.  
  
"What?"  
  
Evan tugged on his shirt nervously and glanced back at the yard. "I don't wanna spend another night in the tree house but I'm n-not sure if I should leave! What if my mom comes home?"  
  
Connor bit his lip. Judging from that message he had a strong suspicion that she may not be coming back at all but he wasn't about to tell him that.  
  
"It isn't safe to stay here. We have to go, Evan." He said as carefully as possible.  
  
"Y-yeah. I know. You're right. L-let's go somewhere safe that's close, okay?" Evan uttered quietly.  
  
Connor nodded and did his best at giving him a comforting smile. Connor pushed the gate open and the two pushing the car whipped around in fright.  
  
"Oh shit man! Don't eat us!" The guy yelled.  
  
"We're not dead! We're not gonna hurt you." Connor cried.  
  
"Oh thank God! Thought you and the kid were both gonna give us the chomp!" The girl declared.  
  
"Do either of you know what the hell is going on?" Connor asked.  
  
"No clue." The boy replied. "So you've seen them then?" He gestured to one crushed under the tire of an another abandoned car.  
  
"You could say that."  
  
"Names Jake. Jake Dillinger." Stated the boy in the letterman jacket.  
  
"Connor. And this is Evan."  
  
"Hi Evan." Said the girl holding up her hand in a wave motion. "I'm Sabrina."  
  
Evan waved shyly back.  
  
"Listen could you give us a hand here?" Jake asked. " We shouldn't be out in the open. Help us clear the way and we'll take you and your brother out of the city and down to my Uncle's farm."  
  
"We're not related I'm..." Connor looked back at the blonde. "just a friend. I'm staying with him until his mom gets back."  
  
"Alright then. C'mon. We shouldn't stay here for any longer than we have to." Jake stated.  
  
Connor turned to Evan. "Well?"  
  
"I..." Evan glanced back at his house. Growls sounded from behind them.  
  
"Oh crap! They're coming! We gotta go!" Sabrina shout-whispered. Jake rushed back to the car. "Connor, quick! Let's go!"  
  
Connor limped forward and started pushing against the car with Jake. Evan joined him, straining against the heavy car. Finally they got it out of the way as the dead were closing in. "GET IN!" Jake yelled. Everyone clambered for the car and Jake sped off.  
  
"When his mom gets back something tells me your gonna be hanging around a lot more often!" Jake half joked.  
  
  
  
The sun had gone down by the time they pulled up to the farm. Connor had sort of tuned out his surroundings as they drove, putting his forehead against the window and just watching the scenery pass by, trying not to think about everything he'd seen that day. As they stopped Connor became aware that Evan was leaning on his shoulder, staring blankly at the seat in front of him. Connor looked down at him and Evan seemed to come back to himself, darting up with a quick apology as if he hadn't been fully aware he was doing it.  
  
Jake and Sabrina got out of the car. "Hey so I'm gonna head on home. My parents are gonna be having a fit!"  
  
"Sure thing! I'll see you later!" Jake said.  
  
Connor and Evan got out of the car. "It uh...was nice to meet you two!" Sabrina expressed awkwardly before running down the road to the house next door.  
  
The door to the farm house opened and an older man in an army jacket stepped out. "Thank God you're okay."  
  
He stepped down from the porch and Jake hugged him. "I was worried it'd be bad here too." The man hugged him back.  
  
"Been pretty quiet the past couple days. Ol' Breckon down the way thinks his mares gone lame but that ain't nothing new." He drawled.  
  
"Wouldn't have made it back without Sabrina."  
  
"Well I'm glad you took her with you then."  
  
The man in the army jacket looked over Jake's shoulder and seemed to notice them for the first time.  
  
"You've brought a couple guests."  
  
"Your nephew saved our lives." Connor declared.  
  
"Glad he could be of help to someone. So it's just you and your brother then?" The old man inquired.  
  
"Oh, they're not brothers. He's his friend!" Jake clarified.  
  
The old man looked at Connor suspiciously and then turned to Evan. "Do you know this kid?"  
  
"...Yes." Evan responded hesitantly.  
  
The old man stared at the two of them for a second as if trying to make up his mind. "...Alright then. Looks like you hurt your leg pretty bad there."  
  
"Yeah. It's not doing so hot." Connor winced.  
  
"I can help you out. Jake, run on inside and check on your sister. You, take a seat up on the porch and I'll go see what I have."  
  
Connor went up and sat on the small wooden bench on the porch while Evan hung back on the steps. The old man came back out with some bandages. "Let's have a look. Yeah. This thing is swollen to hell."  
  
Connor grit his teeth as his leg was squeezed. "It hurts like hell!"  
  
"I'll bet it does. What did you say your name was?" The old man asked as he bandaged Connor's leg.  
  
"It's Connor."  
  
"Nice to meet you, Connor. I'm Hershel Dillinger. So how'd this happen?" Hershel questioned.  
  
Connor was silent for a moment before answering "...Car accident."  
  
"That so." Hershel muttered. "Where were ya headed? Before the accident?"  
  
"Home."  
  
"Where's home?"  
  
"Here in Washington." Connor stated vaguely. "We hit a guy, one of those things you've been hearing about, on the road."  
  
"Who were you with? The boy?"  
  
"Nobody." Connor said guardedly.  
  
"That right?" Hershel drawled.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You said 'we' is all." He muttered. "Well the house is full up with mine. We got another displaced family sleeping in the barn. You and your brother are welcome to sleep there when were done here."  
  
Connor was slightly annoyed that the old man insisted on referring to Evan as his brother even though he had made clear that wasn't their relationship. Still he was offering them a place to rest for the night. Hershel turned to look at Evan. "I didn't catch your name, bud."  
  
"E-Evan." The blonde murmured, shifting timidly on the steps of the porch.  
  
"Can't imagine what you've been through, Evan." Hershel remarked giving him a concerned look.  
  
Connor chimed in. "I'm staying with him until we find his mom."  
  
At this point Jake came back outside. "Hey Uncle Hersh. So I'm thinking first thing tommorow we need to reinforce the fence around the farm."  
  
"That don't seem necessary."  
  
Had Connor heard him correctly? Did this old guy not understand what the fuck was happening? Jake seemed to agree with him.  
  
"I don't know what you saw on T.V. or heard on the radio but there is some serious shit hitting the fan here. I don't think anyone knows how big it is yet." He said seriously.  
  
"Jake's right. You need to fortify this place." Connor agreed.  
  
"Stuff like that doesn't happen around this place, Jake." Hershel deflected.  
  
"I'm serious Uncle Hersh! Connor c'mon! Tell him what you saw out there!" Jake implored.  
  
"Dead people. Walking." Connor uttered with a frightened tone in his voice.  
  
Hershel didn't seem convinced. "Well do what you think you should. We got enough chores around here as it is."  
  
"These guys and the folks in the barn can help out in the morning. We gotta do it. Really." Jake insisted.  
  
"I already said okay." The old man snapped. "Well I'm all done here." He said addressing Connor. "It should start to feel better tomorrow."  
  
"Thanks." Connor said.  
  
"If your leg starts to get hot or the swelling doesn't go down you're probably dealing with an infection."  
  
"What do we do then?" Connor asked.  
  
"We'll probably just have to shoot you." Hershel drawled. He let him sweat It out just long enough before stating "We'll clean it, redress it and you'll be fine."  
  
"Yeah, that'd be preferable." Connor said sarcasticly.  
  
"There's blankets and such in the barn. We'll be seeing you bright and early. Come tommorow, where you think you'll be headed?"  
  
Connor looked over at Evan who looked back at him and shrugged. "D.C. I guess." Connor said uncertainly.  
  
Without another word Hershel turned and went back into the house. Connor and Evan settled themselves as best they could in the barn with the blankets that could be found therein. The two could hear the other family Hershel spoke about but they were sleeping on the upper level.  
  
"It smells like..."  
  
"Shit." Connor finished. Evan wrinkled his nose and made a face at him.  
  
"What? You don't like swearing?" Connor teased.  
  
Evan turned over on the scratchy blanket with a groan. "I t-try not to use it...Why did you lie?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"To Jake. Back in the city. Why did you lie to him?" Evan asked.  
  
"What was I supposed to say? That I was just some random guy that found you in your house? That'd look pretty suspicious." Connor entreated.  
  
"Like lying doesn't make us look more suspicious." Evan muttered.  
  
"Go to sleep, Ev." Connor snapped.  
  
After a few moments of silence Evan broke the silence again. "How far do you think Savannah is from here?"  
  
"I don't know Ev. Pretty far."  
  
"Oh...okay."  
  
Connor's dreams that night were full of flashes of violent arguments, screaming and crying.  
  
  
  
  
"Hey. Hey dude, get up."  
  
Connor's eyes blinked open and he saw a young Latino man with glasses standing above him, wearing a red hoodie covered in patches. Connor sat up, his back aching, and the young man held out a hand. Connor took it and stood up.  
  
Evan was already up, stretching and scratching at his bare arms. "Ugh. I'm itchy!" He complained.  
  
"Well you slept in a barn kiddo! Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair!" The Latino boy joked.  
  
Evan gasped and his hands flew to his hair. "Woah easy! It was just a joke! Besides I'm sure your bro here scared 'em all off!" The boy gestured to Connor.  
  
"I'm not his brother. Name's Connor."  
  
"Oh. Cool. I'm Micheal." The boy replied offering his hand which Connor hesitantly shook.  
  
Suddenly a small Latino boy who couldn't have been more than nine years old poked his head around the barn door exitedly. "Micheal! Micheal! We're gonna build a fence! There's a tractor and everything!" Then he was gone as quickly as he had come.  
  
Micheal smiled a shook his head. "We better get going or we won't hear the end of it." The three of them walked out of the barn. "That was my little bro, Tino. We all call him Duck though."  
  
"Dodging or quacking?" Connor questioned.  
  
"Quacking." Micheal clarified.  
  
"Why?" Connor asked incredulously.  
  
"Cause nothing ever bothers him. Y'know, like water off a ducks back." Micheal said.  
  
"I'm envious." Connor admitted.  
  
"Yeah. It can be a somewhat admirable trait. Though frankly I think it's cause he's just plain dumb." Micheal confessed.  
  
"MICHEAL!"  
  
"But he makes up for it with enthusiasm." Micheal shrugged. The three came up to the side of the house where Duck was standing by the side of a young Latina woman with long brown hair that flowed down her back.  
  
"Word is you're headed up to D.C." Micheal mentioned.  
  
"Yeah. My family is there"  
  
"Well it's on the way and you look the kind of guy who can knock a couple of of heads together if he needs to. I'd appreciate the company of that kinda guy." Micheal told him.  
  
"Sounds good. We'll tag along." Connor agreed.  
  
"Awesome!" Michael turned to Duck and the young woman. "Maria, Duck, this is Connor and uhh..."  
  
"Evan." The blonde supplied.  
  
"It's nice to meet you Evan." The girl who must have been Maria smiled at him. Evan smiled back. Jake walked up. "Well, we should get to work. We've all seen what those things can do so the faster we get this fence up the better."  
  
"I wanna build a fence!" Duck yelled.  
  
"Well I need a good foreman." Jake smiled. "You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break."  
  
"On the tractor? Cool!" Duck cried.  
  
The two headed off towards the fence. "Why don't you come and sit with me Evan? We can visit." Maria offered, patting the hay bale next to her.  
  
"S-sure!" Evan replied, sitting down.  
  
Connor went over to where Jake was working on the fence, hammering away. Duck was bouncing excitedly on the tractor. Connor waved at him as he approached and he waved enthusiastically back. "How ya doing, Duck?"  
  
"Good! I'm gonna drive the tractor! I'm the foreman! Lift with your back, Jake!"  
  
Connor chuckled and turned to Jake. "Need a hand?  
  
"Yeah that'd be great. If you could cut those two by fours to length that'd make this go a whole lot faster."  
  
Connor grabbed the saw and started cutting the wooden boards.  
  
"...My uncle doesn't know how bad it is." Jake murmured.  
  
"No. He doesn't." Connor replied.  
  
"I saw a guy in Virginia kill a kid. A boy. Just shot him right in the face. He didn't even hesitate. He just turned, put the barrel of the gun right between the kid's eyes and pulled the trigger." Jake droned, shocked.  
  
Christ. Was it already getting that bad?  
  
"Was he a walker?" Connor asked.  
  
"I don't even know man. He was either attacking the guy or asking for help." Jake uttered. "I mean you don't see things like that! It's not like the movies, dude."  
  
"They don't fall like you think." Connor said without thinking.  
  
"Have you had to do it?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Kill."  
  
Connor bit his lip. "I had to bash a poor guys brains in."  
  
"Woah. I couldn't do that." Jake said. "I'm just glad we're getting this fence up. Uncle Hersh wants to keep the family safe and thinks inviting people in is more dangerous than whatever's out there. What about you? How's your family?"  
  
Connor stilled for a moment as he considered how to answer that question. "I'm uh...not very close with my family." He said at last.  
  
"Oh. That's a shame." Jake replied sympathetically. Connor couldn't seem to get away from that phrase. "That's probably all I need cut for now. Thanks."  
  
"Hey Jake? Thanks again for the ride. We wouldn't have made it out if it weren't for you." Connor thanked him.  
  
"No problem man. If you see my uncle around he'll probably want some help in the barn."  
  
"Sure thing."  
  
Connor ambled back into the yard and went over to check on Evan. "You two actually look relaxed." He joked.  
  
"We're doing just fine I think. Evan was just telling me about his environmental science elective." Maria offered cheerily.  
  
"Oh. Uh, what's that like?" Connor asked.  
  
"It's easy." Evan answered, grinning.  
  
"If you say so." Connor bantered back.  
  
"Anyway," Maria interjected. "It's almost like we didn't see people eating each other these past few days. It's peaceful here y'know?"  
  
"So uh...what do you do when corpses aren't running around?" Connor half joked.  
  
"I'm in training to be a veterinarian back in New Jersey. Kinda like Hershel but more with dogs and cats than horses. What about you? Are you in college?" Maria asked.  
  
"Not yet. Didn't really...have an idea of what I wanted to do there." Connor admitted grudgingly.  
  
"I can understand that. I had almost no direction towards the end of high school!" Maria said understandingly.  
  
"How did you get out of the city?" Connor asked.  
  
"Micheal just...drove." Maria whispered. "We passed so many people. Over some. We just...just..."  
  
"I-It's ok. You don't have to talk about it." Connor assured.  
  
Maria sighed. "Don't you wish you could go back to before you knew about all this?"  
  
Connor thought about it. He thought about what was before all of this. Did he really want to go back go that? So he thought back further. Back to the last time he was truly happy. He thought back to his seventh birthday party. It was a small family affair. They'd had it in the local park. Connor remembered the jungle gyms, remembered scaling them with his sister, remembered stuffing his face with German chocolate cake and ice cream, remembered his mother laughing and snapping pictures, remembered his father playing tag with them and chasing them around the swings. Yeah, he'd like to go back to that.  
  
"Who wouldn't?" Connor replied, sadly.  
  
Maria nodded solemnly.  
  
"Look uh...I'm gonna go check on your brother. Be back in a bit." Connor said. He headed over to Micheal who was working on a car.  
  
"Hey Micheal. So uh...how's your brother doing?" Connor inquired.  
  
"Doing okay I think. We have a grandmother up in Maryland. We were coming back from a visit and had stopped off in a gas station when some guy grabbed Duck. Thought he was kidnapping him. We were on the fucker in about two seconds and...Christ...just glad we were there." Micheal told him. "We saw a lot of bodies before we found this place. But we're a strong family, Connor. Nothing's gonna faze us."  
  
"So what's your plan?"  
  
"Get back down to New Jersey and let this whole mess sort itself out. Sooner or later the government will start handing out shots and then the national guard will do it's thing. On the chance that it got too bad, we could hop on my family's boat." Micheal suggested.  
  
"You've got a boat?" Connor asked.  
  
"My mom's a commercial fisherman. Maria probably wouldn't be wild about the idea but it's not a bad one." Micheal mentioned.  
  
Connor noticed that he was struggling a bit, messing with the cars inner mechanisms like he wasn't really too familiar with them.  
  
"Need any help?" Connor asked.  
  
"Nah I think I got it. Do you need any help?" Micheal asked.  
  
"What do you mean by that?"  
  
"You seem a bit...lost around Evan." Micheal commented.  
  
"Yeah people aren't my forte. Especially people so..." Connor trailed off, unsure which word to use.  
  
"Fragile?" Micheal supplied.  
  
"I wouldn't say that." Connor snipped, slightly offended at the word choice. "Just...complicated. I've got no idea what I'm doing."  
  
"Well at least you're honest. Lot more honest than I was when Duck first got here. You'll learn, don't worry." Micheal assured.  
  
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hershel disappear into the barn. Connor followed remembering Jake's words. The old man shot him a glare.  
  
"You should know that if you weren't leaving with Micheal today I wouldn't stand for your lack of honesty last night." Hershel growled.  
  
"Not sure I follow." Connor stated.  
  
"I ain't dumb. I caught you in that lie last night about who you were with in that car. And honestly I don't want to know."  
  
Shit. Connor should have known something was up.  
  
"How'd you get out of the city?" Hershel asked.  
  
Maybe Evan was right. And the way he was talking last night...he sounded like he was speaking from experience.  
  
"Got a ride, got in a wreck, walked until your nephew found me."  
  
"Well you're no worse for wear." Hershel drawled.  
  
"This farm is pretty nice." Connor commented, trying to change the subject.  
  
"Heh. Had you told me twenty years ago I'd still be doing this I would have told you that you were full of crap. Never was the plan, having a place like this. It was in the family and I guess so was I. Family's important. It's all that matters. You agree with that?" Hershel asked.  
  
Connor honestly didn't know how he'd answer that question.  
  
"Was brought up to, yeah."  
  
"Where's your family now? Parents, siblings, girlfriend?"  
  
Why was this old man butting into his buisness? Why did he care?  
  
"Girls aren't really my thing." Connor answered.  
  
"That so. What about the boy? Evan? You just stumble across him?" Hershel accused.  
  
Connor REALLY didn't like his tone.  
  
"I was looking for help in his house. I got attacked and he came to my rescue." Connor explained.  
  
"Hmmph. Can I give you a piece of advice?" Hershel requested.  
  
"What is it?" Connor asked.  
  
"I don't know who you are or what you did. Let's say things don't get better back in the cities, or they get worse before they do. You're gonna have to depend on the honesty of strangers to survive. And if they get to questioning your own, there's gonna be problems. But at least you've got enough sense to listen to an old man giving you advice." Hershel advised.  
  
There was an ear splitting scream from outside accompanied by the sound of a roaring motor.  
  
"What the-?!" Connor started.  
  
"GO! I'll get my gun!" Hershel yelled.  
  
Connor ran along the side of the house towards the screaming. When he reached it he saw Jake, his leg crushed under the wheel of the tractor, screaming in pain. Walkers were swinging at him from between the boards of the partially completed fence. Duck stared down at him from the tractor, confused and frightened. Suddenly a walker grabbed him by the leg and started trying to pull him off the tractor as he screamed.  
  
"My leg is stuck!" Jake howled.  
  
Evan was standing there watching the whole mess unfold but he seemed too frightened to move, his breathing coming hard and fast.  
  
Connor rushed for Duck. He reeled back and punched the walker that had a hold of him as hard as he could. From behind him Micheal ran up and grabbed the boy. Connor punched the thing again and Micheal successfully pried him from the walkers hands.  
  
"I got you!" Micheal cried.  
  
"Now Jake!" Connor yelled.  
  
"GET THIS TRACTOR OFF OF ME!" Jake shrieked.  
  
Micheal froze. Then he backed up. And then he ran away.  
  
"CONNOR! HELP ME! PLEASE!"  
  
Connor tried to reach Jake but it was too late. The wooden boards snapped and the walkers sunk their teeth into the boy.  
  
Evan was screaming.  
  
Hershel had just ran up with gun and had seen the whole thing. The walkers dropped one by one as Hershel shot them all. The old man fell to his knees in front of the dead, bleeding body of his nephew.  
  
The air was filled the noise of Evan's heavy breathing.  
  
"Get out. GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Hershel bellowed.  
  
Micheal stood with his family, his face downcast and guilty. "...I'm sorry."  
  
"SORRY?! You're family is alive. YOU DON'T GET TO BE SORRY!"  
  
The old man turned to Connor. "And YOU! You didn't even try to help!"  
  
"I thought I could help them both!" Connor replied desperately.  
  
"Look at him!" The old man entreated gesturing to the horrifically mangled body of his nephew. "You thought wrong. And now..." He turned and stared sadly down at him. "Please...just go. GET OUT AND NEVER COME BACK!"  
  
Connor looked at Micheal and his family. Evan was still trying to get his breathing under control.  
  
"You've got that ride to D.C. if you want it." Micheal murmured, turning and walking to his car.


	3. Part 3 The Drugstore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The five meet up with another group in a drugstore.

As soon as they got in Michaels car Evan got out his pill bottle. He shakily poured out two tablets and swallowed them dry.

"You gonna be alright?" Connor asked.

"T-t-they got him...t-t-t-the m-m-monsters...g-got Jake!" Evan whimpered, trembling.

This poor kid has seen so much already. So much more than he ever deserved to. Connor suddenly felt a strong need to protect him.

"I won't let that happen to you." Connor assured.

"I was r-right there! I d-d-didn't do anything! I couldn't!" Evan cried.

"It's okay Evan! It's not your fault." Connor comforted

The blonde curled in on himself and turned his gaze out the window. The rest of the ride was silent.

The car screeched to a stop in downtown D.C.

Out of gas.

"Well, this is as far as we're going." Michael lamented.

"Then it's far enough." Connor said, hopping out of the car.

Michael had put them out right in front of his family's drugstore. Well it wasn't really. His family didn't own it, his sister and mother just worked there part time. But that was enough for him to always refer to it as "mom's drugstore" or "Zoe's drugstore."

He guessed his brain was just weird like that. The doors and windows to the store were blocked up tight, the gate in front of the door had it's huge padlock fastened on and the surrounding stores all were varying degrees of abandoned.

"Look!" Duck said, drawing their attention to a crouching figure nearby. From a distance it appeared to be working on the car it was partially obscured by. "Hey there! You friendly? Trucks run outta gas." Michael called out to them.

The figure turned revealing the ashy, pale, disfigured face of a walker.

"Fuck!" Michael yelled.

Suddenly they were crawling out from every crevice, emerging from their hiding places to hunt their next meal.

"We're trapped!" Maria cried.

Then Duck was shrieking and a walker was on top of him pinning him to the ground and then-

BANG!

The walker collapsed dead on top of the boy who was frightened out of his mind and covered in some indescribable goo but unharmed.

Connor whipped around and saw a short girl with jet black hair in a denim jacket wielding a pistol with deadly accuracy.

"Christine?!" Michael cried incredulously.

The doors to the drugstore pushed open and a guy with red hair, braces and a red jacket started waving them through. "RUN!" He yelled. Everyone booked it for the door. Connor vaguely heard the red haired boy shut and lock the gate behind them once everyone was safely inside.

"We can't take risks like this!"

"And we can't just let people die either!"

When Connor had caught his breath he turned to see the girl in the denim that had saved them arguing with another girl. This one had long brown hair pushed back with a hairband, a blue tank top and a white polka dotted jacket tied around her waist.

"When I say that door stays shut no matter what, I fucking mean it!" Hairband girl whisper-shouted, pointing a long, green painted fake nail at denim girls nose. "We don't know who these people are! They could be dangerous."

"Worse, they could've lead em right to us!" A rather crotchety looking old man cut in.

"Where the hell is your humanity?!" Denim girl defended.

Sick of being talked about like he wasn't there, Connor spoke up. "We have kids with us!"

"I see one little boy." The old man stared poking his finger into Connor's chest. He _really_ didn't like that.

Evan grabbed Connor's hand to get his attention.

"What is it?" Connor asked, exasperatedly.

Evan looked down, embarrassed. "I...I have to...g-go to the b-bathroom."

"I'd go back out there on a second." Red head challenged.

"I bet you would. But that's cause your a careless dumbass." Hairband retorted.

"Then just go!" Connor yelled, frusrated.

Evan shamefully slinked away from the group.

"They've got a kid with em, Chloe!" Red head pleaded.

"Those things outside don't care!" Hairband, now Chloe protested.

"Maybe you should go join em then! You'll have something in common!" Michael bit.

"Godammit Chloe! You have to control these people!" The old man ranted.

"Christine and Dustin just ran out there!" Chloe complained, gesturing to the red head and denim girl.

"I don't give a flying fuck! This is a war zone."

"She's an asshole that's for sure." Connor murmured to the group.

"If that's what it takes." Chole bit back, hearing what he called her.

"We'll you don't have to be a bitch about it!" Connor yelled.

"Holy shit." The old man turned to look at where Maria was sitting with Duck by the slushie counter, comforting the boy and getting all that gross stuff off of him.

"Son of a bitch! One of em is bitten!"

"He wasn't bitten!" Connor insisted.

"Hell he wasn't! We have to end this now." The old man insisted striding towards the boy with purpose.

"Over my dead body." Michael growled, getting in between him and his family.

"We'll dig one hole." The old man retorted.

"No! I'm cleaning him up! There's no bite! He's fine!" Maria pleaded, wiping her hands over the boys face and arms.

"Don't you fucking people get it!? We've already seen this happen! We let someone with a bite stay and we all end up bitten!" The old man shouted flailing his arms wildily, clearly near panic.

"Shut up!" Michael barked.

"We gotta throw him out or smash his head in."

"MICHAEL! STOP HIM!" Maria shrieked.

"Connor, what do we do about this guy?"

As much as Connor wanted to kick his ass he was in no shape to fight. Plus as it was, tensions were high enough in the room.

"Dad, it's just a boy-"

"Chole I'll handle this." The old man interrupted.

"But your heart, dad. You need to calm down." Chloe begged.

"We reason with him." Connor said at last.

"With the bloody end of an axe handle maybe! Nobody and I mean NOBODY threatens my family!" Michael snarled.

"EVERYONE CHILL THE FUCK OUT!" Christine shouted.

"Nobody is doing anything!" Chloe insisted.

"Shut up Chloe!" Barked the old man. He turned on Christine. "And you, shut the fuck up! They will find us and they will get in here and none of this will fucking matter. But right now we're about to be TRAPPED in here with one if those THINGS!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Snapped Michael.

"He's BITTEN! That's how ya TURN!"

"He's not bitten!" Maria cried as she frantically tried to wipe the gunk off of her little brother to prove it. "Connor stop this! It's upsetting him!"

"Oh I'm upsetting him! Upsetting is getting eaten alive!" The old man roared.

"Dad, we get it. It's a big deal." Chloe tried.

"Do you? Cause you ain't fucking acting like it!"

"Sit down! Or else." Connor threatened.

"Your gonna whoop me? Ha! You and what homo parade?" The old man laughed.

"This one." Michael interjected.

"Oh that's precious. Little boy! Before you eat your sister you can watch your brother get his nose broken!" The old man taunted.

Oh that really made Connor wanna punch him. It was so much like...

"I'm gonna kill him Maria! Just worry about Duck." Michael growled.

"Connor?"

Evan's voice broke out over all the chaos.

"Yeah?"

"T-theres someone in there."

"It's just locked. Keys behind the counter. Probably." Connor caught himself before he implied anything.

"Hey I'm not the bad guy here! I'm just looking out for my daughter!" The old man gestured to Chloe.

"No you're the the one advocating killing a kid!" Michael yelled, putting his finger in the old man face.

"He's covered in muck! She'll find the bite, watch!"

"She WON'T!"

"And if she does? The first thing he'll do is sink his teeth into his sisters face," he turned to Connor "then once she's dead he'll probably pounce on the kid you've got with you. He'll turn fast and then there'll be three."

"Then we deal with it then but right now all you're doing is freaking everybody out!" Connor defended.

"Then get ready to deal with it cause that boy is bitten." The old man insisted.

"It's not gonna happen!" Michael yelled.

"It is! And we're tossing him out now!" The old man yelled.

"NO!" Connor screamed, shoving the old man back by the shoulders. "You don't touch that boy! You don't touch anybody! I've got people I'm trying to protect in here too! You wanna get violent you old fuck! Well COME ON! YOU BETTER HAVE A PLAN TO KILL ME THOUGH BECAUSE IT'S ME BEFORE ANYONE ELSE IN HERE!"

A scream shattered the tension.

Connor whipped around and saw a walker fall out of the bathroom stall right at Evans feet.

"EVAN!"

Connor tried to run to him but tripped and fell on his injured leg, pain blurring his vision. Evan stumbled into his field of view, backing away from the walker crawling towards him. Connor quickly pushed himself to his feet, grabbed the walker and pulled him off of Evan.

"Get away from him you son of a bitch!"

Connor wrestled with it until Christine shot it.

"You okay?" She asked, shakily.

"Just great thanks."

"Uh...guys?" Dustin whimpered.

The dead started banging against the walls and windows. "Everybody down! Stay quiet!" Chloe whispered. She, her dad and Michael and his family ducked behind the counters, Christine, Dustin, and some guy in a tank top he honestly hadn't noticed until now hid behind some shelves. Connor pulled Evan close to his side.

Suddenly there was the sound of shots and the groaning suddenly stopped.

"Is that the military?" Connor asked.

"Thank God for whatever it is." Dustin murmured.

"We almost died because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger! That was stupid! That was-AAAAaaahhhh!" The old man suddenly fell to the ground, clutching his chest.

"Dad!" Chloe cried, running to her dad's side.

"I told him to calm down." Connor said.

"Shut up! It's his heart!" Chloe said.

"M-my pills..." The old man choked out.

"Um nitroglycerin pills?" Maria questioned.

"Yes! We're out! We've been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here." She said pointing to the gated off pharmacy section. "Please try to get in there. Behind the counter where the pills are."

Connor swallowed his pride. It went down like broken glass.

"There's probably another entrance. Maybe through the office." He said, pointing to the back door of the building.

"How do you know that's an office?" Christine asked suspiciously.

"...Lucky guess?" Connor covered.

"Whatever. We need nitroglycerin pills. Please get in there! I'll keep an eye on my dad." Chloe begged.

"The rest of us should get comfy and look for anything useful. We could be here a while." Michael mentioned.

"I'm starting to think that this drugstore isn't a permanent solution." Dustin expressed.

"Yeah this place isn't exactly Fort Knox." Michael agreed.

"Anyone got any ideas?" Connor asked.

"We need gas. And lots of it. As much as possible so we can all get out of downtown D.C." Dustin answered.

"Agreed."

"Then I'll head out and get gas. There's a motel out towards Georgetown. I'll work my way there then loop back, siphoning what I can." Dustin explained.

"You know your way around huh? Local?" Connor questioned.

"Born and raised. Moved when I was ten though." Dustin replied.

"Cool. Take this." Connor handed him his walkie talkie. "If you get in a tight spot use that to reach us. Hopefully you won't need it. Evan has the other one. Check in with him and get back here fast."

"Hang on a sec let's get everybody straight here. Names?" Michael asked

"It's Chloe. My dad's Larry." Hairband spat nervously.

His name just had to be Larry didn't it?

"Keep an eye on him. These guys will work on getting you your medicine. You, keep an eye on that front door. You're our look out." Michael pointed to the blonde guy with red highlights who had gone unnoticed by Connor until about a minute ago.

"It's Rich. You got it." He replied.

"And I'm Christine." Clarified the girl in the denim jacket.

"Fucking hell, Christine! I mean I'm glad you're ok but since when could you do that? Either way you're a damn good shot and we should keep it that way. So get some rest. You'll shift in with Rich when he needs it."

Christine gave him a little smile and said "You got it."

Well these two seem very familiar.

"Now get him those pills." Michael said seriously.

Connor took a good look around the shop. It looked like this group had gotten here before any potential looters had because it was mostly intact, even the ATM machine was still undamaged. Some random objects scattered the floor and the shelves were barerer than they should have been, probably after being picked over by the other group. He laid his hand on one of the shelves and found an energy bar.

 _'Lucky me.'_ He thought.

He tucked it into his hoodie pocket.

His eyes were caught by a collection of photos on the wall. He recognized a few people. The owners, a couple of the employees, his mom and sister in a group picture with some other staff. Maybe they had been here? Next to them there was a small stand full of cards. "No 'I'm sorry to hear your loved one was eaten by the living dead' cards." He said to himself. He wandered over to where Chloe was sitting with her dad. "How is he?" He asked.

"I'm not sure I got your name." She replied sharply.

"It's Connor."

"I was just doing what I had to earlier." Chloe explained.

"We all were." Connor stated.

"You didn't have to call me a bitch in front of my people! And that violence with my dad didn't help." Chloe snipped.

"Look I'm sorry ok! We were all a little tense. Especially with the threat of being thrown out on our asses with those creeps skulking around." Connor apologized.

"Eh. Don't beat yourself up too much. I used to work retail before this. H&M. I dealt with a bunch of asshole customer's all day and maybe, if I'm lucky, made a sale. Being called a bitch isn't a brand new concept to me." Chloe told him. "What about you? Pop your employment cherry on the wonders of retail?"

"No job. Yet. Was still looking when all of this happened." Connor replied.

"Consider yourself lucky. That you haven't had to work retail I mean! Not that...this happened." Chloe answered awkwardly.

Chloe seemed like she was running the place and had been here the longest. She might know something about them.

"Was anybody here when you guys got here?"

"No. This place was pretty wrecked. We pulled a couple of women's bodies out of the office." Chloe explained.

Connor's eyes widened as he took in what she had just told him.

Oh God no.

Mom.

Zoe.

"Are you okay? Did you know someone here?" Chloe asked.

"Y-yeah..." Connor answered slowly. "S-some of the staff. We were uh... we were pretty close."

It had to be them. It had to. Connor just...knew it.

"I'm sorry. Dad had us haul them out in case they weren't really dead." Chloe consoled.

Of course he did. They were probably long gone by now. Connor looked down at the old man slumped pathetically against a shelf. This somehow didn't cool his anger.

"What's wrong with him?" He asked.

"Heart condition. He takes nitroglycerin tablets pretty regularly. I've seen him have a few bad attacks that he couldn't get over and needed to go to the hospital." Chloe said.

"Which is not an option right now." Connor stated.

"I'm just trying to keep him calm." Chloe muttered.

"He's got a temper." Connor mentioned.

"Ah fuck you!" Larry gasped out huskily.

"Yeah, he doesn't mean it." Chloe apologized.

"It's just-"

"What? It's just what?" Chloe asked expectantly.

Connor looked at the old man again. Even with the relatively short time he had spent with him there were a lot of things he wanted to say about him. But then he remembered how that kind of thing worked out for him and his dad.

"Nevermind. I'm sure he's a good guy." Connor said.

"He is. He just has his issues." Chloe looked over his shoulder. "Where's your parents?"

Connor turned and almost expected to see Zoe standing behind him. Instead he saw that she was looking at Evan who was sitting on an upside down crate closely monitoring the walkie talkie, waiting for Dustin to contact him.

"We're not related." Connor said for what felt like the hundredth time. "His mom is in Savannah I think. We just kinda found each other. He'd been surviving by himself. I heard a message on an answering machine. It didn't sound good."

"Oh...well he's lucky to have you." Chloe murmured. "I'm gonna get back to him." She said gesturing to her dad. "Kay." Connor acknowledged.

He overheard Micheal talking with Maria.

"We can't let anything happen to Ducky."

"We just need to get back to Jersey, Maria. Then we'll be fine."

Connor stepped over to where he and his family were sitting. "Hey Connor. Listen I really appreciate what you did back there. Gave that bastard hell." Michael confessed with a little smile.

"Don't mention it." Connor smirked. "How's Duck doing?"

"He's okay. It was just a shock." Maria explained.

"We're lucky as Hell nobody got nabbed on the way in here." Michael declared.

"Yeah, that short girl in the jacket helped us with that. Speaking of, you two seem to know each other." Connor mentioned.

"Christine? Yeah! We went to school together before all of this. We were in drama club together with a bunch of our friends, she and Jeremy were way more into than I was. I never knew she could shoot like that though!" Michael explained, excitedly.

"How's he doing?" Maria interjected, twisting her head in Evans direction.

Connor opened his mouth then closed it then opened it again. "He's...okay I think. I don't know. He's not much for talking. He's tougher than he looks though. I found him alone in his house. He'd been surviving by himself."

"Woah. Yeah he's definitely a tough one. Not just anyone can do that." Michael declared with a smile.

"So what's the plan?" Connor asked.

"For now? Hang tight. You saw how bad it was out there, we should wait for things to clear up." Michael said, crossing his arms and leaning back against the counter.

"Connor didn't you say that your family lived around here?" Maria questioned.

Connor's chest gave a painful throb at the mention of them and he answered quietly "Y-yeah."

"Where are they? Should we go looking for them?" Maria said worriedly.

Connor hung his head and placed his hands on the counter, his long brown locks falling into his eyes as the pain in his chest became too much to bear. "They...they worked here." He choked out and he was glad that his hair was hanging in his face because he could feel his eyes burning with tears.

"Oh dear." Maria whispered, placing a hand in front of her mouth.

"My God." Michael murmured, shaking his head.

"Chloe said they pulled two bodies out of the office. They were...good people. I wasn't around much but..." Connor couldn't go on because his throat was choked up with grief. He felt Michael place a hand on his shoulder. Connor sat up, surreptitiously wiping the tears from his eyes and disguising it as brushing his hair out of his face.

"Well I'm a complete fucking mess but enough about me. How are you guys doing?" Connor joked his voice still sad and stifled by his great sadness.

"We're doing alright considering." Michael murmured.

"We've all been through a lot." Maria added sympathetically.

"Hey uh Connor." Michael said under his breath. "You got a sec?" He suddenly had a very sullen expression on his face.

"Sure." Connor agreed and the two stepped away from the family. Once the two were alone Michael's expression fell further. "Back on Hershel's Farm..."

"Yeah?"

"I panicked yknow? I'm not proud of it." Micheal muttered, ashamedly.

Connor could understand that completely. "It happens."

"I guess. But I can't stop seeing him in my head." Micheal rubbed the back of his head, a look of terror and pity filling his eyes.

"That's rough."

"I killed that guy." Micheal lamented, fisting his hair. "We could have saved him together!"

"You didn't have any choice." Connor interjected. "You think you do when you look back on it but in the moment, when things are really out of control, you don't have any choice."

Michael didn't seem convinced, he lowered his eyes to the floor.

"Try to let it go?" Connor suggested.

Michael didn't quite meet his eyes again but he did nod. He walked back to sit with his family.

Connor had stalled long enough. The longer he waited the more likely a man would die in here. He approached the door to the office. Sensing his trepidation Evan followed close behind. The metal door had a hastily scribbled note tacked on it that read 'Alive Inside.' Connor took a breath, steeled himself and opened the door. He found the office, Connor had never been back here before but immediately he could tell something was horribly wrong. The first thing his eyes fell on was a mattress and a tattered blanket soaked in blood. His mom and sister had probably dragged it in here at some point. Laying beside it was a shattered family photo surrounded by its own broken glass. Boxes and wrappers from the store littered the floor, a desk, a chair, and old T.V. were shoved into the back corner of the room, and cardboard boxes and crates were piled up around the place. A wooden pallet was leaned against the wall, a shelf had been pushed in front of the exit to the alley and another desk had been shoved in front of the door to the pharmacy.

Connor shook his head and pressed the palm of his hand to his forehead, trying to block oncoming pain. "I can't! I can't think about them in here!" Connor murmured to himself. But he couldn't help but think. No matter how hard he pressed his mind was filled with thoughts of his family's suffering. _"My family came here trying to survive. Maybe one of them was hurt. I wonder if it was Zoe. Trying to be a hero, maybe."_ He thought. Turning away from the messy scene he caught sight of Evan standing awkwardly in a corner. He walked over to the pallets and pulled it away from the desk by the door. A cane fell from where it had been propped up against it. Connor recognized it as belonging to the owner.

"What's that?" Evan asked, peering from behind him.

"It's the owners cane. She'd zip around here on it." Connor replied, picking it up.

"Was she sick?" Evan questioned.

"Nah. Not really. I once saw her beat up a shop lifter with it. Plus she knew how to make it look cool. Like you with your polo." Connor explained.

Evan smiled. "My mom gave it to me."

Connor smiled back sadly. "Yeah. Mom's are smart like that." He turned back to the desk that was blocking the pharmacy door. "I better get this outta the way for when we find the keys."

"Can I help?" Evan asked.

"Sure." Connor said. The two grabbed hold of the desk. "Alright. Watch your fingers." They both pulled hard and the desk slowly budged a few inches from the door, making a loud screeching noise.

"So how ya doing?" Connor asked.

"Y-yeah it's not that heavy." Evan replied.

"I was talking about with everything that's going on outside." Connor clarified.

"It's n-not good." Evan answered, his face falling.

"No. It's not."

"But I think it'll be okay." Evan said with hope in his voice.

The two kept pulling.

"A-are you an o-only child?" Evan questioned.

"Why do you ask?" Connor said uneasily.

"W-we've been so caught up with my f-family I h-haven' t even asked about yours." Evan replied, looking a little ashamed.

Connor avoided the question. "Let's talk about something else. You play any sports?" He asked, remembering how he used to play little league back in his younger days. That felt like centuries ago.

"N-not really a fan. I'm more of a tree climbing guy." Evan replied.

"I could tell." Connor said, recalling the way Evan expertly scaled the large oak in his backyard to get to his tree house. "Alright a little further."

With a bit of effort they turned it so it faced the wall. "You didn't answer my question. You d-don't want to talk a-about your family? If not I'm s-sorry I asked. They don't...h-hate you or anything? Do they?" Evan stuttered guilty.

Connor smirked sadly. "I wouldn't be surprised. It's complicated, Ev."

"H-how so?"

"Just" Connor's hand turned into a fist as it rested on the desk. "...is."

"But you love them right?" Evan prompted.

"Course." Connor stated before shaking his head and turning to face Evan at last. "Look my family's...gone. And I just wish things had been different." He sighed.

Evan looks at his shoes. "...Sometimes I wish things could be different too."

Their eyes met and Connor could tell he felt the same way.

"I'm not a bad guy, okay? I just...got into some trouble...things happened and we didn't talk much after that." Connor murmured wistfully.

"I can relate. Sometimes me and my mom b-barely speak to each o-other. And I d-don't think you're a bad guy." Evan said.

"You might be the only one." Connor smirked half-heartedly.

The two took hold of the desk again and pushed it against the wall.

"OW!" Evan yelped, reeling back and clutching his bleeding finger.

"Are you okay?" Connor cried.

"I hurt my finger." Evan whimpered.

Connor patted the desk. "Hop up. I'll find you a bandage." He was sure he'd seen a first aid kit around here. Evan sat on the desk and waited.

Connor walked back over to the desk by the matress and found the orange box with the faded white letters that he could barely make out as saying "First Aid." He opened it up, quickly found a bandage and brought it back to Evan. "Let's have a look at that finger." Connor said kneeling and holding Evans finger to examine it. This caused the blonde to hiss in pain.

"Ouch." Connor stated in sympathy.

"It hurt." Evan said.

"I'll bet it did. Let's see if we can do something about that." Connor said, taking the plastic off of the bandage.

"Yes please." Evan agreed with a small smile. Connor applied the bandage with care and stood up.

"Hey Connor?"

"Yeah?"

"W-what if my m-mom comes home and I'm not there?" Evan asked.

Connor hesitated. He thought again about telling him about the message. "She'll...she'll track us down."

"Ok. W-we should keep a look out. I-I've got my walkie talkie in case she t-tries that way." Evan explained.

"Speaking of which, have you heard anything from Dustin?" Connor asked, leaning against the desk next to him.

"Nothing yet." Evan answered. "I can't decide if that's good or b-bad."

"So what do you think of everybody else?" Connor questioned.

"They seem ok. Well maybe not the sick guy." Evan made a face.

"Yeah. We'll keep an eye on him." Connor stated with a determined look on his face.

"T-there was that t-t-thing in the bathroom. It t-tried to get me." Evan stuttered shakily.

"Yeah."

"But you stopped it."

"Yeah. I did."

"C-can you do that...more?" Evan asked, tilting his head with a small smile.

"Well I'm certainly not gonna go looking for em." Connor smirked back.

"I-I just meant g-get the dangerous ones." Evan murmured.

"I'm definitely gonna try." Connor assured.

"Good." Evan nodded.

Connor pushed off the desk. "We shouldn't hang around in here. Wanna head back into the store with me?" Evan nodded again. As they were walking out Connor hung back as his eyes caught the picture again. He stopped. He kneeled down and took it out of the broken frame. It was a pretty typical family photo. The only real peculiarity was that Zoe was in her employee uniform because this picture was taken just after she had gotten home from work. Connor's eyes trailed fondly over each family member until he reached his father and himself on the end. He glared down at the fake smiles they had plastered on their faces before tearing the both of them out of the photo.

"Find anything?" Called a feminine voice from behind him. Connor started and dropped the half of the picture with him on it. Connor turned around and saw Christine standing behind him. She saw him with the picture. There was no point in hiding it. "Just a family photo. Maybe it belonged to someone who worked here." He lied.

"I know who you are. You're Connor Murphy. You were arrested for manslaughter for strangling your dad in a fight. I followed that case pretty closely. Maybe you're a killer but I don't really care. Frankly that trait is becoming more and more valuable." Christine stated bluntly. Connor was left reeling for a moment.

"Did you tell anyone out there who you were? Or that you're tied to this place?" Christine questioned.

"No. I've been sticking to first names for a reason." Connor explained, gruffly.

"Good. You seem like an ok guy and the last thing we need is drama out there. Plus you've got this kid you're looking out for and...look just don't make me wrong on this." She growled getting up on his face.

Connor crossed his arms resolutely. "I don't plan to."

"Good. Cause if this lasts for more than a few days and you present a danger to the group then we'd have a problem." She snipped, utterly business like.

Connor nodded curtly. "I hear you."

An understanding passed between them.

"I'll keep this to myself." Christine promised.

"Thanks."

She gave him a sort of half smile and said "Don't worry about it."

Connor saw Christine pass Evan on her way out who was watching them through a crack in the door. "How much of that did you hear?" Connor asked concernedly.

Evan answered his question with another question. "Christine said you k-killed someone? W-was it one of those t-things? Was it trying to hurt you?"

Connor slowly shook his head. "No."

Evan suddenly looked much paler than before. "Oh. W-was he...a bad guy?"

Connor's face twisted up in conflict as he remembered his dad. He vaugely remembered the little Leauge games and the weekend picnics and the swingset in the backyard he had put up just for them. But he also remember the constant screaming and fighting, how he was never good enough and how he just. Wouldn't. Listen!

"Yeah. He was." Connor growled at last before stuffing the remains of the picture in his back pocket and walking back into the drugstore, Evan trailing behind him.


	4. Part 4 The Girl in 28B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dustin has encountered some trouble at the motel so Connor and Christine go to help.

Having not found much useful in the office Connor approached Christine who was fiddling with a radio.  
  
"You're a pretty good shot." Connor complimented.  
  
"Yeah well you don't fuck with an actress. Especially not one who's three days out from her last cup of coffee." Christine said proudly.  
  
"Well you saved my ass. So an actress?" Connor asked.  
  
"I like to think so. Mostly just high school theatre club plays. We all came down here for one of our productions when those things attacked. We all got seperated. My co-star was eaten right in front of me. And I would've joined her if wasn't for Rich over there."  
  
"Sorry." Connor said, wincing.  
  
"She was bitch. But you know." Christine sighed.  
  
Connor glanced over to the guy guarding the door. The blonde and red dyed hair, the ridiculous t-shirt and his small stature made him laughable to look at. "That guy saved you?" Connor asked incredulously.  
  
"Yeah! Can you believe it?! Those creeps or whatever they are were pulling our bus apart and Rich just came to the rescue!" Christine declared.  
  
"Guess you'll never be able to tell who the heroes will be." Connor muttered, looking at Rich again.  
  
Christine followed his gaze and smiled. "He's kinda cute. In that dumb jock kinda way." She murmured under her breath.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Uh...Nothing." Christine said.  
  
Connor's eyes fell on the radio on the counter. "What are you working on?"  
  
"A radio. But I can't get it work." She huffed in frustration.  
  
"Let me look at it." Connor said picking it up. He fiddled with the volume knob and pressed the power button. Nothing. He flipped it over and checked the battery door to find it empty.  
  
"There's no batteries in this thing." Connor said in suprise.  
  
"What?" Christine replied, looking over his shoulder.  
  
"You know that there's no batteries in this, right?" Connor asked, putting it back down on the table.  
  
"I mean, yeah! Of course! ....No." She admitted at last.  
  
"I'll see if I can find some. Needs two." Connor stated.  
  
"Thanks. I wouldn't even really know what to look for." Christine muttered, embarrassed.  
  
Connor figured he should see the amazing heroics Christine spoke of and walked over to Rich who was peering out between the boards of the window. "Seen or heard anything?" Connor asked.  
  
"Nothing luckily. You wanna uh sthep outshide? Have a look around?" Rich suggested.  
  
Connor laughed. "I'm not suicidal yet!"  
  
That might have been the biggest lie he'd told all day.  
  
"No no! The gate out there is closhed. We could hang out there and be fine stho long ash we're quiet."  
  
As the guy continued to speak Connor noticed the slight lisp in the boys voice. "Okay. Let's have a look around."  
  
Rich quietly pulled the door open. The two stepped out into the small area encased by the metal cage in the front of the store. Walkers were swarming, just stalking around mindlessly. The air was filled with the growls and hoarse wheezes of those whose throats no longer held breath. A group of them crouched over a pile of bodies, feverishly monging on their flesh. Rich stepped back and covered his mouth and nose. "I thhink I'm gonna be sthick!" He whispered.  
  
"They just..." Connor trailed off.  
  
"Eat." Rich finished. "Far ast I can tell that's all they care about."  
  
"And if they get you..."  
  
"They eat you. And whatever'ss left becomess one of them." Rich murmured. "...I think it may be more than a couple dayst before thist gets sorted out."  
  
"Yeah. We better keep it down out it here." Connor whispered. He and Rich crouched down low and made sure to keep quiet. Now that Connor got a chance to take a good look around at the square he could see an old T.V. shop and a hardware store.  
  
"Did you try to get in there and get weapons?" Connor asked gesturing to the hardware store.  
  
"Yeah but it wasth too risky. Then some guysth sthowed up and they tried." Rich replied.  
  
"And?" Connor prompted.  
  
"I think they're most of who you see wandering around out there." Rich concluded.  
  
Connor's eyes scanned over the crowd before landing on the street corner where a telephone pole had collapsed, trapping a still living walker underneath. Connor couldn't help but feel a shudder of pity run up his spine. "That one over there is trapped." Connor whispered. The walkers long, tangled hair fell in it's face, it was dressed in a uniform and it's mouth hung open as it consistently moaned, wether from trying to communicate or from pain. "Better her than us." Rich murmured. As Connor continued to stare at the trapped creature his eyes caught sight of a familiar bracelet. Connor's breath caught in his throat and his gaze shot to the name tag pinned on her chest.  
  
Hi! My name is:  
Zoe  
  
  
"Oh god!" Connor choked, turning his head away. "What ish it? Someone you know?" Rich asked.  
  
Connor swallowed down the horror that was threatening to rip it's way out of his throat in the form of an anguished scream. "Kinda. She...has a familiar face."  
  
"Yeah. I mean you jusht don't know anymore. Could be anyone. They shtart rotting and get all chewed up and-"  
  
"Shut up Rich!" Connor hissed. He shook his head trying to swallow down the grief that was building up in his chest.  
  
Connor jerked his head over to the walker. "But look at the uniform. She might have worked here and died with keys in her pocket."  
  
"I don't know. That'sh sounds super risky when we don't for ssure. If we had something to go on maybe..."  
  
Connor pulled the photo out of his back pocket. "What about this?" He held it out in front of Rich and lined it up with the walker girls broken frame. The resemblance was vauge at this point, but it was there.  
  
"Oh man. You're right. The keysh being on her is ash good a bet as we can make." Rich agreed. He looked out at the dozens of walkers swarming the street. "You wouldn't need very long right?"  
  
"Just a few seconds." Connor agreed.  
  
"We just need a way to get out there. And a way to distract them." Rich said.  
  
Connor nodded. "Let's head back inside."  
  
The two rose quietly and snuck back in the drugstore.  
  
No sooner had Connor stepped back inside than Evans walkie sprang to life. The blonde jumped and nearly dropped the device as it crackled to life in his hand.  
  
"Hey there, this is Dustin. I'm in a bit of tight spot here. Uh, kid if you're there can you put your brother on the phone? Or the talkie? Or whatever?"  
  
  
Evan handed the walkie to Connor who took it, pushing the big red button on the side. "Not his brother. For the fifteen hundredth time." He replied.  
  
"What? Okay whatever I need a little help here!" Dustin harshly whispered.  
  
"What's up?"  
  
"So I'm down at that motel...and I'm stuck." Dustin murmured over the static.  
  
"Stuck?"  
  
"Yeah I...I saw a chance to get some supplies for the group, some of the roaming ones got the jump on me. I'm hiding out here but they won't leave!" Dustin's voice crackled over the walkie.  
  
"What's going on?" Michael asked, coming up behind him.  
  
"Dustins trapped down at the motel. Hey man we're gonna talk it out and send a team to come and get you, alright?" Connor answered them both.  
  
"Heh! Cool. I'll just...sit tight until then." The walkie went silent.  
  
Connor turned and addressed Evan. "I'm gonna hang onto this for a bit." He gestured to the walkie talkie. Evans eyes widened a bit and he stiffened. "Just until we find Dustin. I'll take good care of it. I promise." Connor reassured.  
  
Evan relaxed a bit before reaching down next to him and picking something up. "I-I found this b-back in the office." He held up a remote control. It probably went to the old T.V. back there. "M-maybe it'll help?"  
  
Connor gave him a half smile and took it. "Thanks. I'm sure I can find a use for it." He stuck the remote and the walkie talkie in his hoodie pocket.  
  
"You ready to go?" He asked, addressing Christine.  
  
"Definitely. I could use a chance to stretch my legs." She replied.  
  
The two managed to unblock the entrance to the back alley and left through there, just as a precaution.  
  
  
The Lincoln motel was a few miles out from the drugstore, it felt like they had walked for an hour or so before they reached it. It was a flat roofed building, two floors with a brick wall lining entrance with two breaks in it to allow cars to pass through. As they came up to it they could see a bunch of walkers, milling around on the blacktop.  
  
"Get down!" Connor hissed. The two ducked down behind the wall. Suddenly the ice machine that was next to them started shuddering and making banging noises. The two stepped back and Christine trained her gun on the thing. Suddenly the door swung open.  
  
"Guys! I'm glad you're here!" Dustin cried. He was curled up inside the empty machine. "Jesus, Dustin! I could've shot you!" Christine chastised as Dustin climbed out and hopped over the wall.  
  
"Well that was easier than I expected." Connor commented.  
  
"Can we please just get out of here before these things notice us!" Christine hissed.  
  
"Wait! We can't go yet! There's someone trapped in that room upstairs!" Dustin pointed up to the second floor where a bunch of the walkers were banging on a door labeled 28B.  
  
"No! No way! We gotta go! Now!" Christine protested.  
  
"Listen, I was out here looking for gas, when up there in the corner room, I heard crying coming from upstairs! It's a girl! We talked and I must have spooked her. She started crying harder and screaming that I was bitten! I tried to convince her I wasn't but her screams must have drawn these guys outta the forest. Couple of em almost got me but I was able to hide in the ice machine." Dustin explained.  
  
"Lucky you! Now let's go!" Christine insisted.  
  
"We can't just leave her!" Dustin cried.  
  
"He's right. We can't." Connor agreed.  
  
"You guys are suicidal! Over a girl!" Christine whisper-shouted.  
  
"I'm going after her! With or without you." Dustin asserted.  
  
"What if it was you up there?" Connor asked her.  
  
"Fine. Lets go save Dustin's damsel in distress." Christine conceded.  
  
The three made their way over to the middle wall and peeked over. "Okay, here's the plan." Connor said. "We don't know how hard it's gonna be to get her outta that room."  
  
"Yeah, it's boarded up." Dustin interjected.  
  
"So we're gonna have to take them all out." Connor explained.  
  
Christine began to load her gun.  
  
"Quietly! Noise attracts these things! Just follow my lead. I'll figure something out." Connor stated. There was a walker directly in front of them and a pillow laying nearby the wall. He grabbed it.  
  
"Good luck smothering them to death!" Christine snarked.  
  
"Not exactly what I had in mind." Connor growled. He gestured for them to move on and they crawled along the wall, there was a pickup truck parked along the farside. The three came up beside it and Connor peeked inside the window. There was a screwdriver sitting on the seat. Connor tried the door to no success. "Of course it's locked." Connor complained aloud. He turned to Dustin. "Know any tricks for getting car doors open?"  
  
"Not without tools or making a lot of noise." Dustin whispered.  
  
Using the pickup for cover Connor turned to face the blacktop again. There was another car on some blocks nearby with a walker propped up against it. It didn't seem like it could move. Connor was struck with an idea.  
  
"Get out your gun." He murmured to Christine.  
  
"But the noise-"  
  
"Just follow my lead. Stay right behind me." He whispered.  
  
The two crept up on the walker. As they approached it it began hissing and growling at them. Connor quickly pressed the the pillow over it's face as it wriggled and struggled, Christine was right behind him, putting the gun to the pillow and firing, muffling the shot.  
  
For a moment everyone held their breath, but it didn't seem to attract too much attention.  
  
"That was sick!" Dustin murmured.  
  
The three moved up to the car. This one was luckily unlocked. Connor opened the door and found an oddly shaped metal object in the floor of the drivers seat.  
  
"It's one of those...spark thingies." Connor whispered. He was pretty sure he had seen one of these in his dad's garage.  
  
"Spark plug." Dustin corrected. "Hey let me see that! I've got an idea!"  
  
Connor gave it to him and he and Christine followed as they made their way back to the pickup truck. Dustin put the spark plug on the ground and stepped on it causing little white things to burst out. "The porcelain inside these things turns car windows to tissue paper!" Dustin whispered.  
  
"Good thinking Dustin!" Connor said, picking up a piece of porcelain. He tossed it at the window and it shattered. Connor winced at the sound of glass breaking but the walkers didn't seem to pay it much attention. Connor reached in and pulled out the screwdriver. "That could scramble a brain pretty good." Dustin complimented.  
  
"Exactly what I was thinking." Connor stated.  
  
The group moved back towards the car on the blocks. The door was still open and Connor reached in and disengaged the parking break. Connor pointed to the car and then pointed to the walker missing it's hands that was ambling by the wall of the motel. The two quickly caught on. All three grabbed the car and started pushing. Soon the car began rolling. It rolled and rolled and before the slow, dull walker could even react it was crushed between the car and the brick wall of the motel.  
  
Having lost their cover the three ran back to the wall. Dustin and Connor took point, ran past the walker near the wall and hid behind a large camper van. There was one of them on the other side of it. Connor whistled to draw it over. It started skulking towards them. Connor waited for the right moment and swung the screwdriver into its chest then its head.  
  
There was a splitting noise as Dustin broke a board over the head of the other walker who was attracted by the noise of him attacking the other one. The board was ineffective and it continued shuffling towards him. "Connor! Little help!" He yelped.  
  
Connor leapt forward and buried his screwdriver in the things eyesocket.  
  
"Nice!" Dustin cried.  
  
"Thanks for having my back." Connor muttered.  
  
"No problem." Dustin replied.  
  
Christine crept out from behind the wall and joined the other two as they went to deal with the one stuck behind the car.  
  
Connor walked up to the handless walker and shoved the screwdriver into its head so hard it got stuck.  
  
"Dude, where'd your weapon go?" Dustin snarked.  
  
"Into that icepick sized hole." Connor smirked.  
  
"Ha! Holy shit! It's cool. Now we've got this." Dustin pointed to a fireaxe right next to it.  
  
"Are you two done?" Christine snapped in annoyance.  
  
Connor picked up the fireaxe. It felt heavy in his hands. He looked up to the second floor.  
  
"Two more." He muttered huskily.  
  
"That should help." Dustin commented.  
  
They moved towards the metal stairs of the buildings. "You guys hang back. Just in case this goes to hell."  
  
"Okay. We'll be right behind you." Christine assured.  
  
Connor carefully tread up the stairs and approached the walkers. As he got closer they turned and started lurching towards him. Connor swung the fire axe with all his might, it was much too heavy for his thin wiry frame but he managed to take them out.  
  
The others followed once the danger had been neutralized. Connor stepped forward and knocked on the door. "Hello in there? We're here to help!"  
  
"PLEASE JUST GO AWAY!" cried a voice from inside.  
  
"Well, we tried. Let's go guys." Christine drawled.  
  
"In a minute." Connor replied. "Mam please just try to calm down. We've got a group in town. If you open up we can-"  
  
"NONONONONO!"  
  
"She's in trouble!" Dustin cried.  
  
"Mam! We're coming in!" Connor stepped back, heaved the fire axe up onto his shoulder and brought it down on the board blocking the door knob.  
  
"STOP! JUST STOP!" Shrieked the voice from within. "I'm...coming out."  
  
The door slowly swung open and a young black girl stepped out, clutching her stomach. Her hair was done up in a braided ponytail and her glasses sagged on her nose. She wore a floral patterned dress that was stained with blood around her arm that was holding her midsection. She looked vaugely familiar to Connor. Hell she might have even gone to school with him. He couldn't remember now.  
  
"You're hurt!" Connor uttered.  
  
"I-I said stay away..." the girl continued as if she hadn't heard them.  
  
"We need to get you help!" Dustin said.  
  
"It's...too late for that." The girl shuddered.  
  
"Guys, she's been bitten." Christine intoned morbidly.  
  
"What?!" Dustin cried.  
  
"I told you! I said go away! I'm bit!" The girl nearly screamed. "But you wouldn't just leave."  
  
"Hey hey, let's just calm down here. You could be fine." Connor attempted to diffuse the situation.  
  
"I won't be FINE!" She shrieked. "My acquaintance was bitten! You get sick, and you die and then you come back and you kill anything you can find! I don't want that! It's not Christian! Please...please...just leave me! Please go!"  
  
The poor girl was trembling. It looked as if every fiber of her being was willing them to listen to her.  
  
"Ok ok. We'll....leave you alone." Connor agreed reluctantly.  
  
But before any of them could move, she caught sight of Christine, looking at her as if she had just noticed she was there. Her eyes were locked on the pistol she was holding.  
  
"...You have a gun." She whispered, almost like a prayer.  
  
"Yeah. So?" Christine answered.  
  
"Can I...can I borrow it?" She quietly plead.  
  
"What do you mean borrow?" Christine inquired skepticly.  
  
"Give it to me? Then I can just...y'know end it! And then there's no problem!" She begged.  
  
"Woah woah woah!" Connor interrupted. If she thought they were gonna give a clearly hysterical woman a gun she had another thing comi-  
  
"Please!" She begged. "I don't wanna be one of those things! Their...satanic!"  
  
Connor couldn't believe he was even considering this. Sure he'd pondered suicide before but that was his own life. He could decide what he wanted to do with it. But now there was this girl, she had done nothing to him, he barely even knew her and she was essentially asking him to kill her. But what choice did he have, really? There was no way she was coming back from this. What was he supposed to do, drag her back with them to have her die on the road? Leave her to suffer and die and become the one thing she feared and hated most? No. There was no choice.  
  
"Give it to her."  
  
"What?! You can't be serious." Christine said, shocked.  
  
"Do it."  
  
"No!"  
  
"Look at her, Christine!" Connor implored. "There's no happy ending to this! Give her. The gun."  
  
Christine looked at Connor. Then at the girl. Then at the gun. The girl just stood there watching them, knowing full well the terribly uncomfortable position she had put them all in. Christine's face fell.  
  
"...Okay. Fine." She put the gun on the ground and slid it over to the girl.  
  
"Thank you so much!" She sobbed out. "I know how terrible this must be."  
  
"I can't watch this man!" Dustin spoke again at last, burying his hands in his hair and turning away. "Let's just go."  
  
"We can't leave yet." Christine said lowly.  
  
"What?! Why not?!" Dustin asked.  
  
Connor caught on quickly. "Because someone needs to stay to pick up the gun. Can't leave it"  
  
A hush fell over them as a silent debate went on over who would stay. But Connor had already made up his mind.  
  
"You two. Go." He said.  
  
"Connor I-" Christine began.  
  
"I SAID GO!" He ordered.  
  
The two weren't about to question it. They silently descended the stairs to wait for Connor in the parking lot. Connor was left with the girl. He felt compelled to say something. So that somehow their time together wouldn't mean nothing. So that perhaps she wouldn't be so scared when she greeted death with open arms. Connor had never been good with words so the best he could come up with was "I'm here with you."  
  
He was here. She wasn't alone. That was all he had. But apparently that was all she needed to hear as a weak teary smile spread over her face.  
  
"You're a good man." She sobbed.  
  
She raised the gun to her head.  
  
Connor looked away.  
  
POP! THUD!  
  
And it was over.  
  
Still Connor had to struggle against his heaving stomach as he reached down to retrieve the gun, descended the stairs and joined the others.  
  
The three walked back to drugstore in silence.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is it with me and killing Alana in my works? I like Alana! I mean I found her kinda annoying but not enough to kill her!


End file.
